In the Terminator movies, the plot concerns computers  that will someday take over the world. There seems to be a little takeover action happening right in my own home.

Just this morning, my picky dishwasher wasn’t appreciative of the fact that I opened it twice after it started in order to fix a bumpety-bump noise from a misplaced dish, and to squeeze in a few more utensils. It impatiently beeped at me to shut its door. If I took too long, or opened it one more time, it would have taken several minutes to run through “mock” cycles before settling down to start the actual cleaning process all over again.

Recently, my parents newfangled washing machine stopped working properly: there’s some kind of problem with its computer that is used every time a user “programs” a wash.

Programming a wash?

All I know is that when I visit, I have to spend about five minutes inputting temperature and cycle controls on the appliance before the lid locks-on its own of course. What ever happened to throwing in the clothes and pushing a knob?

It seems that, in a world of high-tech gadgetry, things have gone a little overboard. I hear auto mechanics complain about the computerized elements of car engines that are hard to get to and a pain to “reset.” I’ve heard many people joke about the wayward roads their car’s map system directs them to when they are relying on it for going places.

How does this happen? Don’t computers have to be programmed by people? If the programmer for a dishwasher wants to be really helpful, he should include a function that would unload and put away the dishes. Why not program that washer’s computer to toss the wet laundry into the dryer? And while we’re at it, the dryer could fold the clothes, put them in a basket, and haul it upstairs.

I mean, aren’t appliances supposed to make my life easier?

Sometimes, I think these machines just have an attitude and don’t like to be messed with. But while I’m the domestic goddess of this household (you heard me right), the computers are going to have to succumb to me and my wishes.

Two can play at this game.